Best Albums of the 1980s

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Listed below are the best albums of the 1980s as calculated from their overall rankings in over 53,000 greatest album charts.

Best albums by year or decade

Decade:

Year:

1980s decade summary

Year	Albums The number of albums from each year featuring in the greatest album charts.	Score Total rank score for each year (made up of the total rank score from all albums in that year)	Top Ranked Album The top ranked album from each year and where it ranks in the overall chart.
1980	2,161	193,877	Remain In Light (28th)by Talking Heads
1981	2,195	120,573	Moving Pictures (154th)by Rush
1982	2,156	148,428	Thriller (71st)by Michael Jackson
1983	2,174	135,388	Murmur (142nd)by R.E.M.
1984	2,167	170,558	Purple Rain (78th)by Prince And The Revolution
1985	2,184	143,880	Hounds Of Love (57th)by Kate Bush
1986	2,311	169,365	The Queen Is Dead (17th)by The Smiths
1987	2,516	162,091	The Joshua Tree (53rd)by U2
1988	2,597	151,786	Daydream Nation (70th)by Sonic Youth
1989	2,638	196,989	Doolittle (19th)by Pixies
Total	23,099	1,592,934

The best artists of the 1980s were The Smiths, Prince, Pixies, The Cure, Talking Heads, U2, Metallica, Kate Bush, R.E.M. and The Stone Roses.

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68.

Music For The Masses

Depeche Mode

Year of Release:

1987

Appears in:

471 charts

Rank Score:

3,737

Rank in 1987:

Rank in 1980s:

Overall Rank:

480

Average Rating:

79 (598 votes)

Comments:

104.

Black Celebration

Depeche Mode

Year of Release:

1986

Appears in:

354 charts

Rank Score:

2,577

Rank in 1986:

Rank in 1980s:

104

Overall Rank:

701

Average Rating:

79 (483 votes)

Comments:

267.

Some Great Reward

Depeche Mode

Year of Release:

1984

Appears in:

219 charts

Rank Score:

985

Rank in 1984:

Rank in 1980s:

267

Overall Rank:

1,723

Average Rating:

77 (286 votes)

Comments:

501.

Speak & Spell

Depeche Mode

Year of Release:

1981

Appears in:

142 charts

Rank Score:

456

Rank in 1981:

Rank in 1980s:

501

Overall Rank:

3,256

Average Rating:

70 (212 votes)

Comments:

582.

A Broken Frame

Depeche Mode

Year of Release:

1982

Appears in:

114 charts

Rank Score:

380

Rank in 1982:

Rank in 1980s:

582

Overall Rank:

3,806

Average Rating:

70 (185 votes)

Comments:

587.

Construction Time Again

Depeche Mode

Year of Release:

1983

Appears in:

129 charts

Rank Score:

369

Rank in 1983:

Rank in 1980s:

587

Overall Rank:

3,899

Average Rating:

71 (180 votes)

Comments:

910.

101
Live

Depeche Mode

Year of Release:

1989

Appears in:

69 charts

Rank Score:

211

Rank in 1989:

Rank in 1980s:

910

Overall Rank:

6,174

Average Rating:

76 (125 votes)

Comments:

953.

The Singles 81→85
Compilation

Depeche Mode

Year of Release:

1985

Appears in:

36 charts

Rank Score:

198

Rank in 1985:

Rank in 1980s:

953

Overall Rank:

6,516

Average Rating:

78 (90 votes)

Comments:

Total albums: 8. Page 1 of 1

Best Albums of the 1980s composition

Year	Albums	%

1980	118	12%
1981	123	12%
1982	110	11%
1983	97	10%
1984	102	10%
1985	80	8%
1986	93	9%
1987	87	9%
1988	92	9%
1989	98	10%

Artist	Albums	%

The Cure	10	1%
Iron Maiden	8	1%
Depeche Mode	8	1%
Rush	8	1%
The Smiths	7	1%
R.E.M.	7	1%
The Fall	7	1%
Show all

Country	Albums	%

	417	42%
	387	39%
	41	4%
	27	3%
	23	2%
	22	2%
	12	1%
Show all

Compilation?	Albums	%
No	968	97%
Yes	32	3%

Live?	Albums	%
No	978	98%
Yes	22	2%

Soundtrack?	Albums	%
No	988	99%
Yes	12	1%

« View best albums of the 1970sView best albums of the 1990s »

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